Aaron Rowand hit third yesterday. The Giants have interest in Carlos Beltran. These two items are slightly related.
From the New York Daily News:
Baby stroller rolls away as women fight on L train (VIDEO)
Whooooops. That was from the New York Post. Here's the one from the New York Daily News:
According to a person with knowledge of the Giants’ thinking, San Francisco’s current position is that it is willing to assume most or all of the $6 million owed to Beltran for the remainder of the season, but does not want to part with a high-end prospect in exchange for a half-season rental. The Mets, as we know, are holding out for talent, and are willing to pay the salary.
If you're not sure what a "person with knowledge of the Giants’ thinking" is, well, you haven't read this masterpiece of American journalism. For now, well just assume that this description refers to someone between the ages of 15 and 98 who has internet access.
This is exactly how the Giants should play it. You want to save some money, Mets? Here, we've sold out every game this year, and people are even snapping up the Tejada shirseys. We've got cash. We'll just pay you $4 million and take on Beltran's contract. Done.
But I think people are underestimating the interest in Beltran. Yes, he's a rental, and he'll make some good coin over the last couple of months, but he's the best hitter on the market. Any team that wants to get better can do so quickly with Beltran. That leads to things like Peter Gammons suggesting the Braves are in the lead with a package centered around Mike Minor, who would probably excite the Mets more than Zack Wheeler.
Think of all the teams that might want Beltran: the Indians, Braves, Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, and Phillies could all really, really use Beltran. Forget that he's a rental -- one of these teams (or the Giants) will blink. At least one of these teams has already decided that they'll give up a pretty sweet prospect for Beltran, but they're playing it cool right now for obvious reasons.
So you have to make peace with one of two things:
- The Giants aren't getting Beltran.
- The Giants are getting Beltran, but they're trading Zack Wheeler and/or Gary Brown (as a player to be named later) to do it.
It's one or the other. I'm pretty sure the Giants aren't getting him with Manny Burriss just by picking up the contract. There will be farm-system pain for whoever trades for Beltran. A lot has been made of the Mets' lack of leverage, but that's been exaggerated quite a bit. Beltran is good. That means the Mets have leverage.
If the Giants say they'll give up money but not prospects, and the Mets say they'll take prospects but not money, does that mean there's no chance that the Giants get Beltran? No, there's still a chance. This is because Brian Sabean is a big ol' liar when it comes to trades, as he should be.
Just expect the Giants to miss out on, or give up a lot for, Carlos Beltran. There probably isn't a middle ground on this one.
Also of note: if he came up with the Rockies, his nickname would be CarBelt.